THE TUI is putting renewed pressure on the Minister for Education to announce "without delay" an implementation date for the new Leaving Cert English syllabus.

"After all the work on syllabus development it is very disappointing for teachers of English to see the lack of progress towards implementation," says Alice Prendergast, president of the TUI. "The syllabus has been completed by the course committee and has been sent to the Minister. We are just waiting for an implementation date," said Prendergast.

"The preferred date for implementation would be September 1998 but an announcement must be made without delay if this is to happen," she says. The TUI believes that a year's lead in time is required if appropriate in service is to be provided.

According to Rose Malone, education officer with the TUI "English should be in the first phase of subjects for Leaving Cert that came in two years ago such as Irish, accountancy, all the modern languages.

They will be examined for the first time this year."

The revision of Leaving Cert English started at the same time as these subjects. However there were delays when questions about issues such as literacy and the place of Shakespeare on the course were raised and "it went back a number of times," says Malone.

"English is very big in terms of in service. Every school has English. To minimise the disruption, they have to know well in advance. All the work has been done, teachers and the committee (which has drawn up the new syllabus) are anxious to see it come to fruition. It will require a lot of in service."

John Mac Gabhann, an English teacher at Tallaght Community School, Co Dublin, and an executive member of the TUI, says that teachers are "puzzled" about the reason for the most recent delay.

English teachers, he says, "would like to see a general level of cohesion" between the new Junior Cert syllabus, which is well established in schools at this stage, and the Leaving Cert syllabus. "They would like more integration and more continuance", he says. Kate O'Carroll chairwoman of the Association of Teachers of English, says. It's a very bib issue. We're very much concerned." She points out that English teachers represent one of the largest groups of subject teachers in the country. O'Carroll says "there have been meetings this week, we're all still waiting."

"The long delay is a source of irritation and uncertainty to teachers of English," she says. "The changes, when they come, will be considerable and will require thorough and carefully planned in service training. We see it as a matter of great urgency that an implementation date be announced so that vital questions of training and in career development can be dealt with."

A Department spokesman was unable to tell E&L when the implementation date for the introduction of this syllabus will be. "A response will be issued and it will be announced in the near future," he said.